Conference overview:

Conference with table top exhibition and six optional masterclasses

This event is the first one exclusively on the subject and will embrace the commercial opportunity and technology roadmap. It is staged by analyst IDTechEx which has the only comprehensive reports and consultancy on EIVs and their technologies such as structural electronics, triboelectric and 6D motion energy harvesting and extreme lightweighting. Partnering the event is TU Delft which has supported more record-breaking solar racers than anywhere on Earth and is also a leader in enabling technologies such as AWE, power electronics, 3D printing and wave power using dielectric elastomer generators.

"My ideal caris a car that can charge from the sun!"

Chief Engineer of the Toyota Prius

The race is on.

The end game is energy independent electric vehicles (EIVs), propelled entirely by electricity produced on-board from ambient energy. Many exist today and investment is already at the billions of dollars level. Solar airships and planes will soon be aloft for five to ten years thanks to the likes of Facebook, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. A drone has flown on sunshine alone and slow speed solar-only buses and golf cars are on sale today. Hanergy promises solar mainstream cars in 2020 but Sion promises 2018.

AUVs

But it is not all about solar, with the solar racers already spinning off companies from their record-breaking inventions. An autonomous boat will soon cross the Atlantic on wind electricity alone, passing Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) that surface to recharge from sun and waves.

Multi-mode EIVs

Yes, multi-mode EIVs are coming, some using sails that propel them but also generate electricity from sun, wind and rain as their propellers drag in reverse to produce another 3kW. That adds up to ample stored electricity for the boat to continue just as rapidly when there is no wind. Scale up to EIV ships with Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) generating 1MW from tethered kites and multicopters.

This event is staged by analyst IDTechEx which has the only comprehensive reports and consultancy on EIVs and their technologies such as structural electronics, triboelectric and 6D motion energy harvesting and extreme lightweighting.
IDTechEx conducts detailed examinations of emerging technologies based on extensive primary research carried out by our technical analysts around the world.

Commercial opportunity

You can license manufacture of a solar + wind pizza van today that travels and cooks entirely on its own. Bypass utilities and charging stations - need less or no maintenance or battery: this is a seismic megatrend! The commercial opportunity for autonomy of power will dwarf that for autonomy of navigation though both will increasingly combine in vehicles.